The Right Partner
by hogwartswonderland
Summary: One day and experiment of Tony's explodes before Darcy can get to safety and rather than blowing her up,she is knocked out and transported to the 1940s. She doesn't remember a thing about her past..more like future. Instead, she is Darcy Rogers; wife of Steve Rogers and loyal friend to Bucky Barnes. This follows her journey as wife of Captain America and nurse to Howling Commandos.
1. Chapter 1

The Right Partner

Chapter 1

Word Count: 1,112 (the actual story)

Marvel Fun Fact: Ming-Na Wen, who plays Agent Melinda May on Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, was also voiced Mulan.

A/N: Hello everybody! I know I have no business posting another story but couldn't help it! This has been sitting in my work folder for a couple of months now and I just finished the first chapter. Don't worry; more will be coming soon though! I decided to include a new Marvel fun fact with each chapter of this story in order to keep things interesting. Feel free to comment on them AND the story! Happy reading!

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><p>"Anthony Stark! If you don't open this door right now then I will paint your suit hot pink and add glitter!" Darcy Lewis, assistant and nanny gopher to the scientists, yelled from the outside locked laboratory while clutching a stack of papers close to her chest.<p>

When she receives no answer from the other side and fails to hear the click of the door opening, Darcy sighs and pushes up her glasses which were sliding down the bridge of her nose. She whipped out her IPhone (which she kept even when Tony through a hissy fit), scrolled down her list of contacts until she reached Pepper's name then pressed the 'call' button. Darcy didn't expect that Pepper would actually pick up, seeing as she was very busy doing CEO type things, but she wasn't complaining when the strawberry blonde woman picked up after the first ring.

"What did he do now?" Pepper Potts asks with a sigh, obviously knowing that her boyfriend was in serious trouble. Since Pepper had hired Darcy the assistant for all the scientists in the tower, Pepper rarely received any calls about Tony's misbehavior because the feisty brunette always seemed to put the whimsical billionaire in his place. So when Darcy actually did call, Pepper knew that whatever had happened was top priority.

"Your idiot boyfriend just locked me out of the lab and refuses to let me in. He went as far as to override my access to the lab!" Darcy rants carefully holding her phone with her shoulder while balancing the stack of files and trying to figure out the code. "Can I-"

"My code is 201012. That should gain you access. Is that all you need, Darcy?" Pepper politely assists.

"That's all I needed. Thanks a bunch Pep! "Darcy thanks her before hanging up and sliding her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. "You better have not made a giant mess or else I will paint your suit pink AND alter JARVIS's voice to have a country accent!" Darcy threatens as she enters in the code Pepper told her. Tony doesn't respond, which was expected. It is most likely that he had taken a page out of Clint's book and escaped through the air shaft, knowing that it is better to run and hide from Darcy when she is angry. She doesn't get angry often but when you get on her bad side, you better watch out. There is a reason she and Loki are prank buddies.

When the thick steel door finally opened up, Darcy was surprised to see that Tony had made no move to escape. Instead, he was hidden behind a large metal arc, tinkering with wires located in a panel located at the base of the invention. The odd invention- it's purpose, Darcy didn't know nor care- was smack dab in the middle of the room and turned so that it faced the wall of glass windows and the doorway. The metal lab tables that were usually in the middle of the room were pushed to the side of the room and lain down to create a barrier, most likely to protect Stark for if- when- the invention detonates. Numerous black wires intertwined and snaked across the grey slab floor to the multiple outlets, occasionally covering one of the many tools that littered the ground. Darcy places her stack of documents that Tony needs to sign on a nearby stool then proceeds to glare at the supposed genius and impatiently tap one her Converse clad feet on the floor, waiting for him to notice her presence. He doesn't make any acknowledgement that she is there.

"Anthony Stark!" Darcy screeches, finally fed up with his ignorance. Stark lifts his head up in surprise which causes him to yank the wire that he forgot that he was still holding with a pair of pliers. There is a small, harmless spray of sparks but it seems like everything is OK and that his machine was not terribly damaged.

"What the hell! How did you get in here, Lewis? I purposely override your access so that you couldn't come in!" Tony exclaims, curing after as he looked down at the detached wire.

"Pepper gave me her code," she said matter-of-factually as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Suddenly her expression turns murderous. "Would you care to explain why you purposely locked me out?"

Tony took off his gloves and wiped his greasy hands on his jeans. "This is supposed to be your birthday present and I didn't want you to see it. Now you have gone and ruined your own present, Ms. Lewis."

"Awww," Darcy pouts, suddenly feeling bad. She is turning 25 next week and it is the first birthday Darcy is celebrating without her parents. Tony, who had quickly become a father figure to her, had promised that he was going to make sure that she would have an amazing birthday. When he said that, Darcy expected some kind of wild party reminiscent of Tony's pre-Pepper, no strings attached era. The fact that he was actually building Darcy something meant so much more to here than a wild, over the top party. And now she has quite possibly ruined it. "Sorry, Tony. What exactly is it supposed to be?"

Tony sighs, seeing no point in keeping it a secret. "It is supposed to be a time machine. I was originally modeling it after the one in _Back to the Future_ but that didn't work out. But it is a time machine none-the-less," Tony says nonchalantly as if building a time machine is no big deal.

"Seriously?!" Darcy squeals in excitement. "I can't believe it." She goes to give him a hug but the wires Tony was just working on begin to spark again, only this time they are bigger and have a wider range. "Darcy, take cover!" Tony exclaims as he quickly dodges behind one of the upturned lab stations.

As soon as the words fell from Tony's mouth, the time machine whirs to life-the archway now filled with an odd mixture of blue and green light- before deciding to explode instead; chunks of the arc, fragments of metal and random wires flying everywhere. One rather large piece of the arc was projecting towards Darcy, who had not had enough time to find cover. The small heavy block fell, gravity taking its place, hitting Darcy square in the head. The last thing Darcy remembers before blacking out and falling to the ground was the sight of her boyfriend dressed in in red, white, and blue busting down the door to the lab and rushing to her side.


	2. Chapter 2

The Right Partner

Chapter 2

Word Count: 2,346 (the actual story)

Marvel Fun Fact: Tom Cruise was almost Iron Man, need I say more?

A/N: I realize that I haven't updated any of my other stories but I have a bad case of writers block…. For all of them. Unfortunate, I know, but I can't really do anything until inspiration strikes again. But at least this story is wielding creative thoughts! I hope you enjoy this chapter of _The Right Partner_ and please tell me what you think of the fun fact above! I would never imagined him to be Iron Man. That role was truly meant for Robert Downey Jr.! Also, just as a side note, this story actually starts in 1941 and goes all the way to the end of Captain America: The First Avenger.

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><p>June 5<span>th<span>, 1941 [Thursday]

It was early morning when Darcy Lewis woke up, and she was not happy at all. She had never been a morning person so naturally, she was bound to be grumpy when she suddenly awakened at 6:48 am while in the midst of a crazy dream involving time travel. So why was she up at such an ungodly hour? Well, for some reason Darcy's gut was telling her that something bad was about to happen.

This isn't the first time Darcy felt like her stomach was being wrung like the dirty, wet rag that Darcy's mother used to clean the floors of their apartment in Brooklyn. The last time she felt like this, one of Darcy's best friends, a scoundrel by the name of James 'Bucky' Barnes, had broken his arm in two places when he attempted to scale the side of a nice brownstone in upper Manhattan to impress a girl. Needless to say, the girl never talked to him after that. The time before that, their other friend, Steve Rogers- who has always been small and sickly- decided it would be wise to walk to the supermarket one block over during a snowstorm and had become so sick that he was in the hospital for a solid month and a half. Needless to say, Darcy's gut was (unfortunately) always right. And it always seemed to involve something bad happening to her boys.

This is why she immediately draped her long blue cotton robe over her buxom figure and rushed to the living room and dialed Steve first. For one, Bucky was the one hurt last time and normally the boys took turns getting into trouble, so logically it was Steve's turn for a bit of bad luck. Plus he was the more reckless of the two despite his alarming multiple health issues. That boy didn't know how to stay away from a fight. It didn't take long for him to pick up.

"Good morning, Darcy," Steve greeted sleepily, somehow knowing it was the bright eyed, loud mouth, and brash 19 year old girl he called friend.

"Morning Steve-o,"Darcy quipped, hoping that he wouldn't detect the slight tremble in her voice. Somehow he always knew when something was bothering her and until she knew what was up, she didn't want to give away anything. "How did you know it was me?" she teased.

"I can see the future," The 22 year old said deadpanned, obviously not in the mood for her jesting that particular morning. His mom, Sarah Rogers, was sick with Tuberculosis and had spent the previous night coughing up blood. Steve stayed up most of the night tending to her, like she has done since he was born, and had only gone to sleep two hours before. He really was not in the mood for Darcy's antics, which Darcy quickly caught onto.

"Sorry, Steve, "the chocolate haired girl apologized sheepishly. "I just wanted to call and check up on you and your mom. I woke up early and knew your mother hasn't been doing well as of late, so I figured I call and check up on you." Her voice had lowered to whisper by the time she finished explaining.

Hearing how the normally loud girl suddenly become quiet like a mouse made Steve feeling bad. He tiredly rubbed his free hand against his face, trying to force himself to wake up. "Don't apologize, Darce. I didn't meet to sound so mean. Mom had a rough night and I only just went to sleep about two hours ago. Is everything alright? You are never up this early." Suddenly the words she spoke registered clearly in his mind. "Do you have another bad feeling?"

Darcy goes to nod her head but realizes that Steve can't see that so she simply replied yes. "Dammit," Steve curses, realizing that Darcy had called with good reason. He knew all too well that nothing good happened when Darcy felt like this and he knew that he was most likely going to be the one affected. "Would it make you feel better if I came over and stayed with you today? Mrs. Barrington from across the hall is coming over to help my mom freshen up today."

Darcy released a sigh of release. "Yes, that would make me feel much better. I'll call and invite Bucky over just in case. No telling what kind of trouble that dunderhead would get himself into without us. When can you come over?"

Steve chuckled. "Give me an hour. Mrs. Barrington is supposed to come over at 7:30 so I can leave after that. See you soon, Darce."

"See ya, Steve-o," Darcy replied before hanging up then picking the phone up and calling the Barnes residence. She placed and bet with herself guessing if it was going to be Bucky, his mother, or his little sister, Rebecca. She guessed his mother. Darcy grinned like the Cheshire cat when his mother, Winifred, picked up. "Morning Mrs. Barnes! How are you on this fine morning?"

"Morning, Darcy," Winifred Barnes greeted with surprise. She has known Darcy since she was born, being good friends with Darcy's mother, Mercy Lewis, and was well aware of Darcy's sleeping habits. "Now why are you up this early young miss? Not up to trouble are ya'?"

"No," Darcy laughed. "I just wanted to speak to your son to invite him over for breakfast at my house. Steve is coming over all well and being the polite girl I am, figured to invite him so he wouldn't feel left out."

"I see," the older Barnes said airily, chuckling as she called to her sleeping son. "James! Time to get your lazy but out of bed! Darcy is inviting you over to her place for breakfast and I have decided not to cook for you this morning! If you want food, you'd better start getting ready now!"

James, a tall, well-built male of 24 with tousled brown hair and Winifred's enchanting glassy blue eyes stumbled out of his room blearily, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he looked at his mother. "What the Sam's hell are you talkin' 'bout this early in the mornin'?" his deep, baritone voice asked, slurring his words from being half-asleep.

"Don't curse, James," his mother reprimanded. "And I am talking about how you better start getting ready to go over Darcy's. I am not cooking breakfast this morning and she is kindly offering to feed you." She smiled at her son, taking joy out of watching the gears turn in his head at her words.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Not at all my darling," she chirped, knowing it would annoy her son. She enjoyed annoying her son from time-to-time like she was doing now. What kind of mother would she be if she didn't mess with her son every now and then? "So you better get moving. Plus I think Steve is joining as well."

Realizing his mother was not kidding, Bucky groaned. He swears that his mother and Darcy were conspiring against him. "Fine. But tell Darcy that she'd better make blueberry pancakes. She owes me." With those final words he walked back into his room, muttering how both dames were crazy and that Darcy must have gone mad for being up this early.

Winifred turned her attention back to the phone. "Did you get all that?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Darcy cheered.

"Alright, Darcy. Hopefully I will see you later," Winifred laughed then hung up. She was glad that Bucky and Steve befriended the young girl. She always proved to be a source of entertainment.

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><p>A couple hours later, the trio lounged in Darcy's living room, debating what they wanted to do today. Breakfast was over, the dishes cleaned up, and the sun was shining on the three young adults that were lazily lounging in the living room. Bucky had claimed the sole chair, laying upside down as he repeatedly tossed a baseball in the air and caught it. Steve was settled comfortably in the couch, snoring away as Darcy was laying against him, looking back and forth between the two boys. Bucky was suggesting things to do but she kept knocking them down, afraid that if they even left the apartment that something bad would happen.<p>

"Ok, so you call us over here but you don't want to do anything. What is going on Darcy?"Bucky asks the younger girl as he sits up in the chair correctly, looking at her with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing's wrong!"Darcy exclaims before briefly looking at Steve's sleeping form then flickering back to Bucky's accusatory glare. "Can't a girl just want to spend a day in with her two best friends?"

"No," Bucky says slowly, "But that is for a girl that isn't you- the one who is always pushing us to go places even when we don't want too. So what gives?"

Darcy glances around the room, looking everywhere but at the brown haired, blue eyes man that is staring intently at her. Bucky is one of her best friends, but he has never quite believes Darcy when she says she thinks something bad is about to happen. It doesn't matter that is always ended up to be true. He firmly believes that Darcy couldn't possibly guess these things.

"So you aren't going to answer me?" He receives no response. He huffs angrily. Bucky loves his best friends dearly but sometimes they can be a bit too much. "Fine. Them I'm leaving. Thanks for breakfast but I'll see you later when you decide to tell me what's going on."With that said, Bucky stood up and went to grab his light brown worn wallet and faded brown shoes.

Darcy went to protest him leaving but was interrupted by the telephone ringing. Dejectedly, Darcy unfolded herself from the couch to answer the phone. At that very moment, the twisted feeling in Darcy's stomach tightens more. Suddenly her hands begin to feel clammy and a wave of fear washes over her, causing goose bumps to raise on her forearms. "Bucky," she calls out to him, her voice trembling. "Can you wait just five minutes? At least until after I take this call?"

Sighing, Bucky sits back down in his seat. It seems like she has that 'feeling' again which is why she wanted him here with Steve. He knows that she is just being paranoid, but he figures he can indulge her for about five minutes more before leaving. "Sure."

"Thanks," she replies in a soft tone before picking up the yellow telephone. "Darcy Lewis speaking,"she greets. Someone on the other line says something.

"Oh, good morning Mrs. Barrington. Is everything alright?"There is silence for the next couple minutes as Mrs. Barrington talks to Darcy, who is growing paler with every passing minute. Her hand flies to cover her mouth, which is gaping in what Bucky guesses to be horror. Her slate grey eyes are starting to brim with tears, which is an unusual sight since Darcy rarely ever cries. Bucky jumps to his feet to rush over to her just in time to catch her when she collapses, the phone all but forgotten as it dangles.

Carefully, Bucky hangs the phone back up and lends a hanky to the distraught teenager before him. "What is it Darce?"He asks lightly, crouching down to look her in the eyes. He nearly loses his balance when he sees the haunted look in her eyes. The light which once shone in them was gone.

"It's Steve's mom-"a small sob escapes. "She's gone."

Bucky freezes. "What do you mean, gone? God- Darcy- please don't tell me your saying what I think your sayin'!"

"Unfortunately, I can't," Darcy snaps. "I knew something bad was going to happen today but I didn't think it would be this! How are we going-"

"Darcy, Bucky, what is going on?" Steve asks as he walks over to the dark hair duo. He rushes over when he sees them sitting on the ground and Darcy crying. "What happened? Are you alright, Darcy?"

She looks at him and promptly bursts into tears, dragging Steve to her into a hug as soon as he is close enough. Bucky looks at them two sadly for a moment, noticing how she clings to him in a non- sisterly way, before going over and enveloping them both in an embrace. After a minute they all release each other.

"I am so sorry, Steve," Darcy chokes out. "Why don't we sit down," Bucky intercedes before Darcy could tell him." He knows it might be best to have him sitting that way he doesn't collapse and hit his head on the hardwood floor. Together the trio moves back to the living room. They all sit down on the sofa, Steve in the middle and Bucky and Darcy on either side of him. Darcy has wiped her tears and is now sitting straight up, looking like she is trying to be strong.

"Steve," she begins. "Mrs. Barrington just called."All of the sudden it is like a bucket of cold water is dumped all over Steve, somehow seeping through his veins. "It's your mother, she-"That is when Steve shoots straight up.

"Don't tell me. Anything but that, Darcy!"

"I'm sorry," she whispers, looking down at her hands. "We wish we could tell you that your mom isn't dead, Steve." Bucky intercedes, realizing Darcy wouldn't be able to say the actual words. "But we can't. I'm sorry pal."

"My mother is dead," Steve whispers before sitting numbly back on the couch and letting Darcy wrap him into a hug. Bucky simply looks at the two with sadness as he goes to stand and call his mother. Winifred would know what to do, she always does. And despite being 24 years old, he really just wants his mother to take care of things so he can mourn with the man he calls his brother. After all, Steve is going to need his friends in the upcoming months. Like always, the three would stick by each other until the ends of the earth.


End file.
